The present invention generally relates to an electronic cash register utilized primarily in the dining-out service industry such as in restaurants or like shops and more particularly to an electronic cash register for registering customer orders in chit files stored in a memory incorporated in the register, issuing bill chits and performing sales totalization processing (transaction settlement processing).
The electronic cash register of the type mentioned above is known heretofore. However, the known electronic cash register lacks adaptability to various business environments and managements adopted in restaurants or the like shops and can not cope by itself with alterations or changes in the environment promptly by changing or modifying the preset information required for registration of customer orders in chit files, issuance of bill chits or receipts, execution of totalization processing and others.
Under the circumstances, in the shop where the chit processing scheme is frequently changed or altered, programs required to this end have to be down-loaded from a host computer to which the electronic cash register is connected via a communication line, which in turn means that high operation cost is involved.
However, in view of rapid and frequent changes in the conditions in which the cash register is operated as brought about by developments in the dining-out service industry, a variety of customer demands and/or labor environments, there exists a great demand for an electronic cash register having functions or capabilities for handling registration of customer orders in the chit files prepared in the memory incorporated in the cash register, provisional closing of the chit files, additional item registration therein, issuance of bill chits and so forth, wherein by changing or modifying the information preset in the cash register, the structure of the chit file as well as the method of processing the same can easily be altered or modified over a wide range so as to cope promptly and easily with the changes in the business environments of the shops in which the electronic cash registers are installed. More specifically, the electronic cash register known heretofore lacks the capability of realizing the functions mentioned below.
(1) Function capable of setting the number of article items for registration in one chit and the number of chit files as issued (i.e., the number of openable chits) which have to be disposed of by the electronic cash register, thereby to allow the structure or configuration of the chit file to be easily altered in the cash register so as to conform with the business environments of shops promptly and appropriately.
(2) Function for presetting and checking a chit file ID (identification) number reset flag in the memory, thereby to select an automatic issuing of the customer chit file ID number by manipulating a chit file issuing key starting from a starting number of "1" in the registration processing succeeding to the issuance of an adjustment report or starting from a serial number succeeding to the number generated before issuance of the adjustment report.
(3) Function for setting a customer chit file ID number generation mode to a manual generation mode and invalidating the manipulation of a chit file issuing key which is not accompanied with manual inputting of the ID number of the chit file while displaying a corresponding error message when the chit file ID number generation mode is the manual generation mode, while when the chit file issuing key is manipulated after inputting of a chit file ID number, a chit file of the corresponding ID number is issued provided that the chit file of the same ID number is not issued yet.
(4) Function for storing in the memory a first register ID number of the associated cash register and a second register ID number of a master electronic cash register which incorporates a memory shared by a plurality of cash registers in a cash register system which includes a plurality of individual cash registers interconnected via communication line, wherein generation of a customer chit file, provisional closing of the chit file, recalling thereof, additional article item registration therein and sales totalization can be effectuated by making access to the memory of the master cash register via a communication facility.
(5) Function for storing a customer chit file having article item registration data and a chit file ID number written therein and ending temporarily the registration processing for the chit file, and function for recalling the content of a customer chit file closed provisionally in response to actuation of a recall key after inputting the chit ID number to thereby make it possible to register additional article items in the recalled customer chit file, and the function responsive to actuation of the recall key to thereby set in the chit file a flag indicating that data of the chit file is being recalled, for thereby protecting the customer chit file being recalled against access attempted by another cash register.
(6) Function for allotting the ID number of a chit file cancelled by a cancel key after issuance of the chit file to a customer chit file issued subsequently with priority and confirming a drop-out of an ID number of the cancelled chit file from a sequence of the serial ID numbers by printing out a corresponding report.
(7) Function for displaying article items registered in the provisionally closed chit file which is recalled for registration of additional customer orders simultaneously with and distinctively from the additional items being currently registered by using different display regions or by affixing a distinction mark for confirmation.
(8) Function for enforcing inputting by a server in charge upon manipulation of the chit file issuing key in accordance with server control information preset in the memory and storing a server code in the chit file upon storing thereof to thereby allow the manipulation of the recall key to be validated for recalling of the provisionally closed chit file only when the server who closed provisionally the chit file is the same person as the server who manipulated the recall key, for thereby preventing mishandling of the server-allocated chits.
(9) Function for enforcing the server in charge to manipulate the chit file issuing key on the basis of the server control information set in the memory, wherein when the server in charge of the provisionally closed chit file as recalled is not identical with the server who manipulated the recall key, decision is made that the server who is in charge of the provisionally closed and recalled chit file is replaced by the server who manipulated the recall key, to thereby replace the server ID stored in the chit file by the ID of the replacing server who manipulated the recall key so that transfer of transaction information between the servers can be ascertained on the adjustment report.
(10) Function for issuing a bill chit for a chit file provisionally closed after item registration while confirming whether the bill chit has already been issued, to thereby prevent the bill chit from being issued in duplicate.
(11) Function for changing in a manual chit file issuing mode the ID number of the customer chit file undergoing the registration processing to a given chit ID number except for that of the chit being currently issued.
(12) Function for responding to the manipulation of a recall key for recalling the customer chit file closed provisionally to thereby invalidate the manipulation of the recall key and display a corresponding error message when the recall key is manipulated after inputting of a chit file ID number in the automatic recall mode, while when the recall key is manipulated without being accompanied with the inputting of the chit ID number, the content of the customer chit file having a smallest file ID number of all the issued chit files stored in the memory is recalled on the display device, i.e. the function suited to a shop (e.g., drive-through shop) in which the customer order chits sequentially undergo the totalization processing.
(13) Function for setting in the cash register as factors determining the structure of the chit file a number of customers registered per chit (a number of divisions of one chit file corresponding to different customers, respectively), a number of article items for registration per chit file, a number of chit files to be issued (a number of openable chit files) which have to be disposed of by the cash register, to thereby realize appropriately a chit file structure suited for the business environment of a shop in which the cash register is installed, so that the article items can be registered distinctively on a customer-by-customer basis with a plurality of customer orders being registered in a same chit file, while bill chits are issued separately on a customer-by-customer basis.
(14) Function for setting in the cash register as factors determining the structure of the chit file a number of customers to be registered per chit (a number of divisions of one chit file corresponding to different customers, respectively), a number of article items for registration per chit file, a number of chit files to be issued (a number of openable chit files) which can be disposed of by the cash register, to thereby realize appropriately the chit file structure suited for the business environment of the shop in which the cash register is installed, so that the article items can be registered distinctively on a customer-by-customer basis with a plurality of customer orders being registered in a same chit file and that the transaction end processing (transaction settlement processing) is performed separately from one to another customer.
(15) Function for inputting a number of customers capable of being handled with a chit file upon generation thereof, and when a number of customers as inputted exceeds the preset customer number per chit mentioned in the paragraph (13), another chit file area is additionally secured to be linked as an extended file of which link address is stored at an area provided in the chit file, so that a number of customers which exceeds the preset per-chit customer number can be disposed of by the cash register.
(16) Function for storing in a link address area an address information of other empty chit file for using the linked file as an extended file when number of items to be registered in a chit file as issued exceeds a preset per-chit number of items to be registered, so that a number of items which exceeds a preset number of items for registration per chit can be disposed of by the cash register.
(17) Function for performing recall processings sequentially for a plurality of chit files closed provisionally to thereby issue a bill chit by totalizing the data of the plural chit files, and a function for performing transaction settlement processing by totalizing the chit data.
(18) Function for setting the electronic cash register to a learning mode, wherein the chit file which is issued in the learning mode is enabled to undergo a recall processing and a transaction settlement processing only in the learning mode, while totalization data resulting from the chit registration processing performed on the chit file in the learning mode is added to only a learning totalizator of a totalization file, so that the chit registration processing in the registration mode (REG) can be distinguished from the chit registration processing in the learning mode, and the status of the chit registration processing in the learning mode can be confirmed by printing out data of the learning totalizator in the form of a report.
(19) Function for setting in the memory a learner code identifying a person in charge of learning, so that the chit file issued after the inputting of the learner code is enabled to undergo the recall processing and the transaction settlement processing only after the inputting of the learner code while totalization data resulting from the chit registration processing performed on the chit file is added to only a learning totalizator of a totalization file without being added to the ordinary sales totalization file, that the chit registration processing effected by a learner can be distinguished from the chit registration processing performed by other servers, and that the chit registration processing in the learning mode can be confirmed by printing out Data of the learning totalizator in the form of a report.
(20) Function for setting in the register a maximum customer number per chit (corresponding to a number of divisions of a chit, a maximum number of chit files as issued which have to be handled by the cash register as structural factors for the chit file, so that a structure of the chit file can be made suitable for the business environment in a shop or restaurant and the function for changing the preset control data to thereby modify the issuance of a chit file, storing (provisional closing), and recalling thereof as well as issuance of a bill chit so that chit file functions suited for business environments of various shops such as restaurants can be selected easily, promptly and conveniently from wide varieties of functions.